Ball gloves for use in baseball, softball and other sports are well known. Ball gloves typically include a front panel connected to a corresponding back panel to form a hand cavity. The front and back panels typically generally resemble the shape of a human hand and when assembled form five stalls for receiving the thumb and fingers of a user's hand. The front and back panels form a hand opening at the lower edge of the glove. A webbing is typically connected between the thumb stall and the index finger stall of the ball glove. Ball gloves also typically include a hand opening for enabling a user to insert his or her hand into the hand cavity of the ball glove, and, often, an index finger hole for enabling the user's index finger to rest on the back portion of the index finger stall during use. Many existing ball gloves are formed of high quality, relatively expensive materials, such as natural leather, synthetic leather, and combinations thereof.
Ball gloves are typically very durable, and outside of certain high wear areas, generally can serve a user well for several years. Existing ball gloves, however, are generally susceptible to excessive wear at the distal ends, or tips, of the finger and thumb stalls. These areas of the ball glove are often routinely scraped, dragged or swiped along the playing surface during play. In particular, the tips of the finger and thumb stalls of a ball glove often are scraped along the playing surface upon fielding ground balls, fielding low thrown or hit balls, and applying a tag to an opposing sliding player. As a result, many ball gloves, including premium, high-end leather ball gloves, can develop scratches, scrapes, holes and other evidence of wear at the tips of the finger and thumb stalls. This wear can lead to premature failure of the ball glove. Further, many used ball gloves retain the appearance of a new glove, with the exception of excessive scrapes and marks worn into the tips of the finger and thumb stalls of the ball glove. Such wear marks are particularly visible on darker colored ball gloves.
Thus, there is a continuing need for a ball glove that is less susceptible to scratches, scrapes and other types of wear. It would be advantageous to provide a ball glove with improved wear resistance in high wear areas, without negatively affecting the weight, comfort, appearance or performance of the glove. It would also be advantageous to provide a ball glove that provides these advantages in a manner that increases the durability of the glove without substantially increasing the cost or complexity of the glove.